You can make Carbonara pasta which is traditionally made using gianciale (pork jowls): Just cut into lardons and pan fry them until crispy and remove from the pan. In a small bowl whisk together 1 egg/person you're serving, plus grated parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup/person), salt and pepper. Then cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Drain the pasta but reserve some of the water. Put the pasta in the pan you cooked the guanciale in over very low heat. Add the egg mixture along with a splash of pasta water and stir vigorously and constantly until it starts to form a thick sauce. Careful not to scramble the eggs! Make sure the heat is very low and even turn it off after afew seconds. THe heat from the cooked pasta should cook the egg to the correct temperature without scrambling. Toss in the crispy guanciale and serve immediately.

Black eyed peas are often cooked down with jowl Southern style and then served with cornbread. You can use it for flavoring in any beans, in fact, instead of bacon. Also, some people literally lay it across dove or chicken while roasting for a flavorful, fatty way to keep in moisture. I don't eat meat myself, but these are things I've seen people do down south.

For the carbonara, if you add a little of the pasta water slowly to the egg mixture, you won't end up with scrambled eggs. A splash of half 'n' half in the egg mixture isn't canon, but can be tasty.

Tara:
Arent you a lucky girl. I only wish my farmer's market had Guanciale. You can use this in place for bacon or pancetta. Google for recipes with guanciale. The italians love this cut of meat, and use it often in many recipes. Enjoy!

Also called "hog jowl" by those of us who grew up in the South. :o] SO good with blackeye peas!

Thanks so much for all the ideas! I think I may try the jowls in a twist on carbonara tomorrow night.

my local butcher occasionally has guanciale and they describe the flavor as a "piggy gummy bear".
http://www.belmontbutchery.com/charcuterie.cfm

@Tara, you didn't specify whether you had guanciale (seasoned and cured) or fresh jowls which haven't been curied yet. So I wouldn't try the carbonara with the fresh jowls, it will have the saltiness. I would think that you could use the fresh jowls as a substitute for pork belly. Maybe braise or roast it.

sorry, meant "it will NOT have the saltiness".

You either need to braise it low or slow (like with beans) or cure it (like bacon) to be edible. You can't just slice it up and throw it into pasta.

Guanciale is wonderful stuff but I wouldn't try to home cure it unless you are experienced pancetta (no smoke) or bacon (with smoke) maker. Pork belly is far more forgiving to experiment with. Instead, I suggest adding to to beans.

As others have said, I often sub it for bacon in Southern recipes like black-eyed peas or braised greens. That's assuming it's been cured; I'm not sure fresh would work for that.

Filipino adobo. Just place it in a large dutch oven with some vinegar and soy sauce, add some onions and garlic and braise that jowl! Serve with white rice.

The jowls I have are fresh, so thanks to @ATN654 for explaining that the carbonara probably won't work. I think instead I'll braise them with beans.